BEST OF
DARK
SHOEGAZE & DREAMPOP
2025

The third album from Hull-based UK shoegaze band bdrmm.

Released via Rock Action Records—the label founded by Mogwai—this album continues bdrmm’s steady evolution from its origins as Ryan Smith’s home-recording project into a fully realized band. Their 2020 debut “Bedroom” drew attention for its shoegaze filtered through gothic and post-punk shadows, while 2022’s “I Don’t Know” broadened their palette by incorporating ambient and trip-hop elements.

With “Microtonic,” that trajectory accelerates. Influences cited by the band include Björk, Four Tet, and Massive Attack, and the album pushes decisively further into electronic territory. The shift is not merely stylistic but contextual: anxieties, isolation, and a sense of social stagnation in the post-pandemic landscape appear to inform the record’s atmosphere. The towering shoegaze walls that once defined their sound recede into the background, replaced by uneasy synth melodies that cling like fog and gradually heighten tension. Beneath them, mechanistic beats generate a trance-like pull that favors immersion over release.

What bdrmm seems to be proposing here is not the euphoric rush of rave culture, but dance music as a form of escape—a temporary refuge from a reality that feels increasingly claustrophobic. It is a bold recalibration, and one likely to divide listeners who came to the band through their earlier, more guitar-driven work.

For those receptive to darker, electronically inclined sounds—particularly fans of acts such as The KVB or SPC ECO—“Microtonic” offers a compelling and confident step into new territory, one that reframes bdrmm not as a shoegaze band experimenting with electronics, but as an evolving project redefining its core identity.

The third album from U.S.-based post-metal and doomgaze band SOM.

Released via Pelagic Records, a long-established home for post-metal, SOM was formed by current and former members of Caspian, Junius, and Constants. Prior to this release, the band had issued two full-length albums and two EPs. During the recording of this album, founding drummer Duncan Rich departed, prompting a shift in the lineup. The current formation consists of Will Benoit (vocals, bass, guitar, electronics), Justin Forrest (drums, bass), Mike Repasch-Nieves (guitar, piano), and Joel Reynolds (guitar, synths).

SOM’s sound is built on the interplay between grunge-, shoegaze-, and doom metal–derived guitar weight and an ethereal vocal presence. This balance led Metal Injection to describe their music as “doom pop,” an apt phrase that captures its distinctive character—heavy yet strangely inviting, like sweetness clinging to the thorns of a briar. Influences hinted at on their 2023 EP, including an admiration for Depeche Mode and a visual nod to Type O Negative through green-toned artwork, remain clearly present here. Interviews have confirmed the artwork as an intentional homage, and Benoit has also spoken of early conceptual ideas involving a figure with the commanding presence of Peter Steele—an ideal he acknowledges he could never fully embody, but one that nonetheless lingered as a reference point.

As suggested by its title, “Let the Light In” signals a noticeable shift in tone. Where earlier releases leaned more heavily into melancholy, this album appears to move toward an openness to hope. The change is most explicit on #2 “Let the Light In,” written amid the bleak atmosphere of the pandemic, where the repeated invocation to “let the light in” functions as both lyric and thesis statement.

As a result, the album as a whole feels less overtly dark than its predecessors. From a dark shoegaze perspective, this may register as a slight softening. Yet the contrast between restraint and intensity works to the advantage of certain tracks. #5 “Give Blood” stands out for its sharp interplay of stillness and force, while #8 “The Light” channels a decadent, deeply resonant sorrow. In these moments, darkness feels more potent precisely because it is set against a brighter backdrop—an embodiment of the idea that the stronger the light, the deeper the shadow it casts.

Beginning in October, the band is set to tour the UK alongside Blanket in support of Slow Crush. How this turn toward light shapes their next phase remains an intriguing question—and one that invites continued attention as their trajectory unfolds.

The eighth album from Chicago-based singer-songwriter Circuit des Yeux.

Released via Matador Records—home to artists such as Interpol and Snail Mail—Circuit des Yeux, the project of Haley Fohr, continues to defy easy categorization. Known for commanding a four-octave vocal range, Fohr moves fluidly across gothic, post-punk, neoclassical, darkwave, industrial, and folk, constructing a sound that feels deliberately borderless. On this album, the industrial dimension is brought further to the foreground, resulting in a darker and more imposing evolution of her work.

Throughout the record, Fohr navigates between resonant low registers and piercing falsetto with remarkable control. The effect suggests a cinematic form of dark ritual—one that might be imagined as Chelsea Wolfe, Dead Can Dance, and Depeche Mode converging within a dystopian, digital landscape.

For listeners with an affinity for shoegaze-adjacent textures, #4 “Anthem of Me” stands out as a clear highlight. Majestic neoclassical elements merge seamlessly with drone-like distorted guitars and a monumental, slow-moving beat that evokes the sound of colossal footsteps. Its sense of scale and suspended intensity may resonate strongly with fans of spectral drone and doomgaze acts such as ISON or Lovesliescrushing.

More broadly, the album aligns with a growing tendency to fuse drone-oriented sound design with folk, neoclassical, and darkwave frameworks—a direction also evident in recent works by artists like Ethel Cain and Penelope Trappes. Within this context, Circuit des Yeux positions herself not only as a participant in this emerging aesthetic, but as one of its most distinctive and commanding voices.

The debut album from Swedish band Ritualmord.

Ritualmord was formed in 2007 by Kim Carlsson—one of the founding members of Swedish depressive black metal band Lifelover—and 1853, though the project did not begin operating in earnest until 2020. Given the striking visual similarity to Lifelover’s first album, combined with the deliberately provocative title “This Is Not Lifelover,” some listeners may initially find themselves disoriented.

The title, however, appears to be both a tribute and a declaration. While acknowledging Lifelover’s 20th anniversary and its enduring shadow, Ritualmord explicitly distances itself from that legacy—an assertion that feels intentional in a context where any related project would inevitably be measured against the original. Listening to the album makes that distinction clear. Rather than revisiting a single stylistic lane, the material blends ambient, folk, and industrial elements with post-rock and shoegaze textures, forming a palette that feels markedly broader than Lifelover’s core sound.

That said, traces of lineage remain. Some tracks were reportedly written with Lifelover in mind, though never realized at the time, and Carlsson’s unmistakable screams—strategically placed rather than omnipresent—inevitably evoke the band’s DNA. Still, the overall atmosphere diverges in meaningful ways. Where Lifelover drew heavily from the Brave Murder Day-era Katatonia strain of depressive black metal, Ritualmord leans toward a dreamier, more expansive territory, edging into blackgaze and post-black metal.

What emerges is not a continuation, but an alternative—a project that carries faint remnants of Lifelover while articulating a different set of possibilities. One might reasonably describe Ritualmord as a “Lifelover alternative,” not in opposition, but in parallel. As a debut, the album occasionally suggests a band still exploring its range, yet there is a sense that the shoegaze and post-rock components may grow even more pronounced going forward.

Freed from the weight of expectation that inevitably accompanies a legacy act, Carlsson and 1853 appear poised to chart their own course. How this newly defined world evolves is an intriguing prospect. For additional context, listeners may also want to explore Kall, another project involving Kim Carlsson, which offers a distinct but equally individual perspective.

The second EP from Arizona-based shoegaze band Glixen.

Based in Phoenix, Glixen has rapidly emerged as one of the most closely watched new acts in contemporary shoegaze. Produced by Sonny DiPerri—known for his work with My Bloody Valentine and DIIV—the EP arrives amid a period of significant momentum for the band. Since forming in 2020, Glixen has appeared at numerous festivals, including SXSW, and in April 2025 reached a major milestone with a performance at Coachella. The current lineup consists of Aislinn Ritchie (vocals/guitar), Esteban Santana (guitar), Sonia Garcia (bass), and Keire Johnson (drums). The band’s name is taken from a Lovesliescrushing song, a reference that feels especially apt given their sonic lineage.

Glixen’s sound is defined by sandstorm-like sheets of noise fused with dark, sensual melodies—dense and immersive, yet controlled. Despite their relative youth, the band projects a seriousness that resonates even with longtime My Bloody Valentine devotees. On this EP, the sweetness present in earlier material remains, but the overall tone feels darker and more solidified.

The opening track, #1 “shut me down,” is an instrumental that overwhelms through relentless drum strikes and towering walls of guitar noise. It has reportedly become a staple closer in their live sets, and its physical impact suggests why. Listeners drawn to the heavier end of Japanese shoegaze may find an immediate point of connection here.

A particular highlight is #4 “sick silent.” Its lush melody coils around Jesu-level heaviness, producing a crushing yet hypnotic effect. While many recent Nu-Gaze acts have evolved under the influence of Deftones or Whirr, Glixen appears to reintroduce a deliberate return to My Bloody Valentine’s foundational sensibility into that trajectory. The result suggests a productive feedback loop—one that not only pushes the genre forward but also leads newer listeners back to its origins.

As representatives of shoegaze’s next generation, Glixen stands alongside contemporaries such as Wisp as a project worth sustained attention.

Additional notes:

• Aislinn Ritchie (vocals/guitar): A dedicated film enthusiast, with a particular fondness for the work of Gregg Araki, including The Living End, Nowhere, and Splendor—the latter also serving as the inspiration for “Splendor” from the band’s first EP. Her anime interests include NANA, Serial Experiments Lain, Ergo Proxy, Chobits, Parasyte, and Chainsaw Man.
• Esteban Santana (guitar): Originally rooted in metal, with Godflesh cited among his favorites, while also expressing an appreciation for Dead Can Dance.
• Sonia Garcia (bass): Began playing bass in 2019, making Glixen her first band. A fan of the anime Fullmetal Alchemist.
• Keire Johnson (drums): Has mentioned Afro Samurai as a favorite anime and has spoken in interviews about an interest in visiting Japan.

Glixen – Japan Tour Announced (Updated Dec 2, 2025)

The seventh album from Tokyo-based artist robounoishi.

Operating with two distinct identities—as a Vocaloid producer and as a full band project—robounoishi has steadily expanded his stylistic range across an increasingly prolific catalog. While the previous album “Pater Noster” leaned heavily toward blackgaze and post-black metal, this release marks a sharp pivot. Here, elements of emo, grunge, shoegaze, and hardcore are woven together into a sound that sits firmly within alternative rock.

Among the album’s tracks, two stand out as particularly compelling for listeners drawn to darker shades of shoegaze.
#4 “Boku Wa Kanozyo No Yu-Rei Wo Mita” unfolds as a sorrow-laden shoegaze piece imbued with a wintry chill. The grief of losing a loved one is conveyed with quiet intensity, leaving an ache that lingers like frostbite beneath the skin. Fans of Whirr’s “Sway” may find this track especially resonant.

#5 “Ikite Ite Gomennasai” is arguably one of the darkest compositions in robounoishi’s body of work. Built around relentlessly self-punishing lines, the song suddenly erupts into a harrowing scream that collides with a fragile vocal melody, evoking a level of despair more commonly associated with depressive black metal. The scream appears to be a heavily processed Vocaloid voice—likely Hatsune Miku—an approach previously used in tracks such as “Shinen Ni Kokoro Arite,” though never with such visceral effect. The result demonstrates how, with careful manipulation, Vocaloid vocals can convey striking emotional depth. That said, the track’s overwhelming darkness suggests a degree of caution for listeners who are particularly sensitive to heavy emotional content.

Notably, just one month after this album’s release, robounoishi followed up with an eighth full-length, and on June 17 unveiled the first recording under his band configuration. This relentless pace speaks to a creative drive that is difficult not to admire. Revisiting the earlier releases for context only reinforces the consistency of quality across his discography.

The seventeenth album from Florida-based ethereal wave duo Autumn’s Grey Solace.

Based in St. Augustine, Florida, Autumn’s Grey Solace was formed in 2000 by multi-instrumentalist and composer Scott Ferrell and vocalist Erin Welton. Although Winterrim (2012) is technically a compilation without newly recorded material—making this their sixteenth original studio album—the band officially counts it as their seventeenth release, a designation followed here.

Before diving into the album itself, a brief note on ethereal wave as a genre may be helpful. Ethereal wave is generally understood as a subgenre of darkwave, emerging in the early 1980s from gothic rock and post-punk. Within the 4AD roster, particularly atmospheric acts such as Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil were frequently described as “ethereal,” a term that eventually became shorthand for a distinct sonic and aesthetic approach. The word itself traces back to “aether,” the fifth element in ancient Greek cosmology, later theorized in early modern science as a medium for light and electromagnetic waves—concepts now scientifically obsolete, but linguistically preserved to describe something otherworldly, delicate, and transcendent.

Owing to its roots in early gothic rock and post-punk, ethereal wave occupies a connective space between gothic music and shoegaze–dream pop. Cocteau Twins, in particular, continues to be cited as a key originator respected across both scenes, reinforcing the idea that gothic and shoegaze share a deep aesthetic affinity. This lineage was later carried forward by Projekt Records, founded in 1983 by Sam Rosenthal of Black Tape for a Blue Girl, which introduced genre-defining artists such as Love Spirals Downwards and Lycia. Autumn’s Grey Solace emerged in the early 2000s as part of this extended tradition.

Ferrell began playing guitar at the age of fourteen and gradually expanded to a wide range of instruments; across the band’s catalog, bass, drums, mandolin, and most other instrumental parts are largely handled by him. Early influences reportedly included Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, The Cure, and The Smiths. Welton, by contrast, developed her distinctive, fairy-like vocal style entirely through self-study, citing influences as varied as Dead Can Dance’s Lisa Gerrard, Morrissey, and Madonna. (Notably, Autumn’s Grey Solace has also contributed a cover of “Musica Eternal” to Projekt Records’ Dead Can Dance tribute.)

Sonically, the band’s shimmering guitar textures often recall Cocteau Twins, yet their frequent use of minor keys lends the music a distinctly melancholic tone—well suited to autumn evenings and nocturnal listening. This characteristic mood is fully preserved on “The Dark Space.”

#1 “Forever Dreaming” opens the album with a warm, acoustic-led arrangement, introducing an unexpectedly impish vocal delivery that briefly suggests a shift in direction. That impression quickly fades as #2 “Catch My Canaries” returns to Welton’s familiar, fragile timbre. Following a subdued, wistful arpeggio, her soaring soprano evokes the spiritual gravity often associated with Dead Can Dance. #3 “Darkens the Soul” unfolds with a rain-soaked, nocturnal melody that feels quintessentially Autumn’s Grey Solace, while #4 “Silhouettes of Light” pairs luminous guitar passages with a quietly sorrowful motif, etching emotional contrast much like shadows cast by light itself. It stands as one of the album’s clear highlights.

The remainder of the record maintains this level of quality, drawing the listener ever deeper into a consistently decadent and immersive sound world. Even at seventeen albums in, the duo’s creative vitality shows no sign of diminishing—a fact that commands respect. One might be tempted to say that as long as Autumn’s Grey Solace exists, ethereal wave remains alive. Still, the relative scarcity of direct successors is difficult to ignore. Among younger artists, deary comes to mind as a partial parallel. Yet with renewed interest in Cocteau Twins and Slowdive among Gen Z shoegaze listeners, ethereal wave itself appears to be gradually regaining attention. The emergence of a new generation within the genre feels not only possible, but likely.

For those wondering where to begin within such an extensive discography, a few recommendations follow:

• “Over the Ocean” (2nd album): Their first release after signing with Projekt Records, offering a well-balanced interplay of light and darkness. The opening track “Waning Faithful” is particularly striking in its melancholy.
• “Shades of Grey” (4th album): More overtly gothic, with heavier shoegaze elements. “Angel of Light” is often cited as one of the band’s definitive shoegaze tracks.
• “Ablaze” (5th album): An energetic and varied record, spanning catchy compositions, classical grandeur, and darker, progressive-leaning gothic material. Its status as one of the label’s best-selling releases is well earned.
• “Englelícra” (12th album): A refined, high-purity distillation of melodic beauty—arguably one of the genre’s aesthetic high points.

In truth, nearly every album in their catalog offers something worthwhile, making it difficult to choose a wrong entry point. The listening experience may also resonate with fans of what is sometimes described in the Japanese indie sphere as “fantasy-floating” music, and could appeal to listeners drawn to artists such as ZABADAK, Akino Arai, or, more recently, Ichiko Aoba.

The first mini-album from PLOTOLEMS, an alternative rock band based in Tokyo. The project began as a solo endeavor by Sakurem (Gt/Vo), before Sho (Dr) joined in July 2020, marking the band’s full-fledged launch. They subsequently released their debut EP A FICTION (2020), followed by A GHOST (2022). With the addition of Fujimoto (Ba), PLOTOLEMS now operate as a three-piece.

I first encountered the band at the September 2022 edition of Total Feedback, a shoegaze-focused live event. Going in completely unfamiliar with their work, I was struck by how markedly different they sounded: amid a lineup of relatively accessible acts, PLOTOLEMS stood out with an uncompromisingly dark and confrontational approach. I later left an excited comment on Twitter, describing my initial impression as “coldwave × industrial × shoegaze—a cold, beautiful sound like a blue flame burning in the darkness. The pairing of icy keyboards and an ennui-laden vocal recalls the lineage of coldwave acts such as Asylum Party, while the more electronic tracks suggest an affinity with Skinny Puppy or SOFT BALLET.”

That impression only deepened with A GHOST, which drew me further into their world. (For the record, my standout track from that EP remains “This City is Hell.”)

On this release, PLOTOLEMS once again deliver a boundary-crossing sound that deftly blends alternative rock with shoegaze, noise, industrial, and new wave. The result is a relentlessly dark vision that fully embodies their self-described aesthetic of “Japanese Industrial Horror Dark Alternative.” Sakurem’s vocals—simultaneously childlike and unhinged—have grown even more expressive, shifting fluidly from fragile clean passages to scream-like outbursts, dragging the listener ever deeper into madness.

What follows are brief impressions of each track:

#1 “Watching”
Industrial textures rumble up from what feels like the murky depths of dark water, recalling the mechanical pulse of factory machinery. Shamanic, ritualistic resonances evoke an ancient ceremony, guiding the listener into a hypnotic state.

#2 “int main()”
A fast-moving track brimming with blue-tinged impulse and anxiety, reminiscent of early ART-SCHOOL. It is the album’s most immediately catchy moment and all but guaranteed to resonate powerfully in a live setting.

#3 “4294967296”
From here, PLOTOLEMS fully assert their identity. Sakurem’s raw shouts and blistering, glitch-like guitar noise scorch the brain. The imbalance between the rampaging noise and the coldly persistent keyboard lines becomes strangely addictive. The numbers chanted in a depressive monotone feel like a countdown toward annihilation. According to Wikipedia, 4,294,967,296 represents the maximum addressable memory space of a 32-bit CPU—an intriguing detail that conjures images of an afterlife overflowing, the dead spilling into networks with nowhere else to go. Seen this way, the sequence even begins to resemble a string of ominous symbols, such as death (4) and suffering (9), lending the track an additional layer of unease.

#4 “Chain”
A decadent industrial piece built on a minimal beat, punctuated by cold piano phrases. Echoes of Cold Meat Industry-era dark ambient and industrial acts—such as In Slaughter Natives—linger here, gradually implanting an indescribable sense of dread.

#5 “Crazy Dream”
The track opens with a shoegaze/post-rock-inspired introduction, lulling the listener into a hazy waking dream, before abruptly hurling them into hell with pitch-black noise and feral shouts. Its cruelty borders on the sadistic, eliciting an involuntary, uneasy laugh.

#6 “NECTAR”
Just as the listener relaxes into the harmony of languid, sweet vocals and a pulsating bassline, they are suddenly struck by a massive guitar assault. There is no such thing as safety with PLOTOLEMS.

#7 “paranoia”
An erratic, destabilizing closer that feels like being trapped inside a mirrored box and sent tumbling downhill. Metal-piercing piano strikes and gravel-spraying guitar noise crash in relentlessly. Maintaining sanity under such conditions feels almost impossible.

Seven tracks, twenty-eight minutes in total—this is a true horror anthology experienced through sound. When PLOTOLEMS contributed a shimmering track to the Total Feedback 2024 compilation, I briefly wondered whether they might be shifting toward a brighter direction. That concern proved entirely unfounded. One can only hope they continue to plunge ever deeper into the abyss.

The title para?anomaly also invites interpretation. Horror fans will naturally think first of Paranormal Activity, but by inserting a question mark and separating the word into “para” (against) and “anomaly” (abnormality), the sense of estrangement is heightened. Read another way, “para” can imply “parallel,” suggesting that anomalies are not exceptions but are omnipresent. In that sense, the title seems to pose a question: if “abnormality” exists everywhere as a matter of course, is labeling it as abnormal itself not already an aberration? This line of thought recalls the sentiment of a certain manga quote: “Who, exactly, can guarantee the sanity of your gods?”
This is, of course, only one possible interpretation.

The artwork is equally compelling. The gaping, tree-hollow-like void in the face is grotesque yet strangely beautiful. I am also particularly fond of the alternate cover—featuring a faceless, fictional figure—which evokes the aesthetic sensibilities of Travis Smith. Merchandise, especially a T-shirt, would be more than welcome.

The fifth album by kuragari, a Japanese bedroom shoegaze artist. Following kuragari’s selection as this site’s Best Album of 2024, a new full-length arrives once again this year. The project’s defining trait—the fusion of ferocious noise and deeply melancholic melody—remains fully intact on this release.

The sound evokes the image of someone strumming a heavily distorted electric guitar and singing folk songs in the center of a cramped four-and-a-half-tatami room, surrounded by stacks of Marshall amplifiers pushed to their limits. The vocals are even more aggressively processed than before, often resembling blackgaze-style screams, with the notable exception of track #6, “(ff) Oboeteiru!” Frankly, kuragari continues to push things to extremes with remarkable consistency.

Personally, I refer to this kind of relentlessly overdriven, noise-saturated shoegaze as “auditory destruction”—and within that niche, kuragari stands entirely alone. The sheer intensity of the sound design eclipses that of any peers, granting the project a singular presence even within this already abrasive subgenre. Adding to this aura is the fact that virtually nothing is known about kuragari beyond their identity as a Japanese artist, further reinforcing the project’s sense of isolation and mystique.

Turning to the lyrics, however, the emotional core reveals itself as unexpectedly nostalgic, reflecting on cherished moments from the past. The album title Tenhou refers to one of the rarest winning hands in mahjong, with odds said to be approximately one in 330,000. It is tempting to interpret this as a metaphor for the near-impossible miracle of encountering someone irreplaceable among the billions of people on Earth, and sharing a fleeting but meaningful span of time together.

Another distinctive feature lies in the use of musical notation within the lyrics themselves: ||: :|| (repeat sign), Fine, D.C. (Da Capo), 8va (Ottava), # (sharp), and ff (fortissimo). Reading the lyrics with an understanding of these symbols may reveal additional layers of meaning, making this an album that rewards close listening and textual engagement.

That said, caution is advised when adjusting the volume. The noise level rivals that of Ulver’s third album, and listening at excessive levels will almost certainly take its toll. Your ears are an essential asset in any long-term relationship with music—enjoy responsibly.

A five-track EP released in 2025 by Violet Cold, a blackgaze artist from Azerbaijan. Violet Cold is the solo project of Emin Guliyev, based in Baku. Initially inspired by Alcest, his early output centered on melodic blackgaze in a similar vein. Over time, however, his sound expanded dramatically, absorbing elements of ambient, post-classical music, traditional folk, EDM, breakcore, and hip hop, resulting in a highly distinctive and idiosyncratic artistic identity. This refusal to be confined by genre conventions has earned him a reputation as a kind of trickster within the blackgaze scene.

Following the 2023 album Multiverse, Violet Cold released a series of stylistically diverse singles that ranged from post-classical and lo-fi hip hop to rave-oriented material. Against this backdrop of unpredictability, the arrival of a fully synthwave-oriented EP is unexpected, yet entirely in character. While comparisons to Abstract Void may seem inevitable, the underlying approach differs significantly. Where Abstract Void places blackgaze at the core and supplements it with synthwave textures, Violet Cold reverses the balance, foregrounding synthwave while integrating blackgaze as a secondary but essential component.

The most compelling track is #2, “Nightfall.” Driven by an energetic dance beat, the track’s glossy, exuberant synths immediately evoke neon-lit cityscapes and crowded nightclubs. Even when judged strictly from a synthwave perspective, the execution is notably strong. Emotional clean vocals intersect with malicious screams, preserving blackgaze’s defining contrast between beauty and aggression. The ease with which these disparate elements are combined once again underscores Violet Cold’s skill in transforming seemingly incompatible materials into a cohesive whole.

Shortly after this EP, Violet Cold released the single “Oh My Goth I'm Emo” which further unsettled expectations through its unconventional fusion of pop punk, blackgaze, and anime-influenced Japanese female vocals. The vocals appear to be generated via vocaloid software, yet the use of fluent and meaningful Japanese lyrics adds another layer of intrigue. That an artist from Azerbaijan would venture into territory adjacent to mikgazer was hardly foreseeable. It is tempting to speculate that Violet Cold could one day produce a fully realized, moe-leaning shoegaze release on the scale of a Hanazawa EP—though history suggests he will likely surpass even such predictions with ease.